#AoT Ending

[kimbapkimbapp]

⚠️aot spoilers⚠️

We all agree that it was eren who suffered the most, but what about Armin? He lost his childhood bestfriend, probably the person he was in love with and who he cared most about knowing that he chose Mikasa over him and that eren wanted to spend his last 4 years without him, just Mikasa and him alone.

He was always the last option, he hated himself, he blamed himself for Erwin's death and carried on his shoulders that 80% of humanity died.

[aengelren]

Did you know that Isayama asked to storyboard the season 2 outro and spoiled the ending nearly 6 years before even writing it?

[sweatreleaseofdeaths]

I never liked some aspects of SNK's ending since it came out back in 2021. Not because I thought it was bad or because I thought it wasn't well made, but because it felt forced. 

The sudden change of Eren's feelings about Mikasa was one thing that pissed me off, but also because Isayama's original ending wasn't even supposed to be the one that we got. It felt like he only wrote that specific ending for the fans and readers (and maybe because he was tired too; have you seen the bags?) and not because that was the ending that he wanted to write. 

Like you can clearly tell by the last arc that he took a drastic turn on where the story would go to make it "happier," for lack of better words.

 

The way I saw it from the beginning, there was no getting out of it. No happy ending whatsoever. And true to it, the ending with got was bittersweet. Everything Eren did was for nothing because the cycle started back again.

I did actually appreciate that, because it showed us something that was an actual reality. Even if it did help for a bit, nothing really changed because it's in humanity's nature to always start the cycle once again.

However, what I wanted to see more was his original idea of everybody dying. Instead of that, Isayama went and tried to pull a Naruto (with Armin and Eren) so that they could talk it out, understand each other, and come to an understanding. (The understanding being: the reasons of his actions, Eren's need to die, and their promises) 

From an interview (if I'm not mistaken), the original ending was apparently inspired by "The Mist," which is basically about the protagonist being the cause of his loved ones downfall in an attempt to protect them. Sounds familiar, right? It feels like it was going in that direction, then Isayama just decided to make them all resolve their differences, for some reason. 

I personally don't hate the ending; like I said, I just think it was a tad forced on his end.

 

On the Mikasa/Eren thing, do NOT get me wrong. Mikasa is and has always been an important character to this story. Her as well as her relationship with Eren IS special. Now just because what they share is special doesn't necessarily mean that it's "love.".

On Mikasa's side, she literally lost her parents and met Eren a second later because he killed for her and came to her defense. She latched into him because of that. She was a traumatised child with a deeply unhealthy view of love, so while she did love Eren, the way she showed it could be interpreted as just obsession toward her rescuer.

But the thing with Mikasa's character is that the more the story goes, the more you see her become her own person without Eren. Either it be choosing between her desire to stay with him or her duties as a soldier, or even when she had to make a choice between killing him or not being willing to because of how much she loves him.

I honestly love Mikasa as a character so much. You can see her growth and see her trying to get past her trauma step by step. So, at the end, even though she never stopped loving Eren, she moved on and started a life for herself, because that's where her development was leading to.

Contrary to her, Eren had little to no self-restraint. He was hot-headed and only believed in what he believed, walking the path that he felt was right. He was obsessed with one thing and one thing only (that's literally everything he talked about), never straying from it no matter what happened.

I feel like he never tried to get past his trauma, only feeding into it the more time passed. From always getting into fights because of different perspectives he had with people (i.e., hitting one of the guys who was badmouthing the scouts with a stick) to ending 80% of humanity. Eren was selfish from the beginning; everything he did was for himself. Even the rumbling was partially for himself because his freedom couldn't be obtained if the people outside the walls were still around. 

Eren was and will always be a deeply selfish person, but there is also more to that. (So much more that I'm not even going to get into that here, because I love Eren too much and wouldn't be doing him any justice by resuming his character in just a few words.)

 

TLDR: Eren did not love her romantically (he did LOVE her; it just wasn't romantic), and even if Isayama wanted to say that they did love each other, what they shared ultimately was toxic. It could've turned into something better if Eren was less self-centred, but then again. My issue with all of this is that Isayama underexplored this aspect of their relationship so much that it just was out of the blue (and might I add ooc without getting shot) when Eren started wailing about not wanting her to end up with someone else.

You can't just make a story, build it, and put effort into it, then make a little throwaway line of "Oh, these two love each other, btw." That's just not how it works. You have to develop it for the readers to understand, and even if some people end up not liking it, it wouldn't matter because at least you made it make sense. 

 

Also! I'm not criticising SNK, nor am I criticising Isayama. I've loved this story for years, so really, at the end of the day, even if some things still felt off to me, I will keep loving it to death. (And you can ship whoever you want who gives a fuck!)

[themisverdict]

A few days ago I saw a post on tiktok referring to Levi's ending and how the worst thing to have happened to him was the fact that in the end he [simply] survived.

It is not that I do not understand where said perspective comes from. Nor do I totally disagree with it by seeing it in a black white type of way. Nevertheless do I personally have a different view on the way Levi's ending was made out to be. For me saying the only way for Levi to find finite peace would've been in death, (to which mentioned view refers to) is just not correct. His character was written and created with so many different facets and layers. With so much depth and detail in order to create a complex and actually shaped character. Throughout the story Levi was always portrayed as someone who not only cares about those around him, but puts others before himself without ever hesitating. He has been portrayed as s character with developement. He saw his own duties and tasks as a priority. And the way he trusted people. The platonic relationships between him and other characters were often really detailed and complex to underline the character that Isayama wanted to create through him. Rather than potential romance, there was a much bigger picture enhanced with his character. The beauty in friendship and platonic relationships.

I've seen people discuss how his character would've deserved / 'needed' some form of love interest in the sense of a relationship with someone in the end. For me this presumes that a persons only way to live a fulfilling and fortunate life requires some form of romantic love, which in general is problematic to me. As well as that it just doesn't make sense with Levi. In many cases would I not totally disagree. There have been speculations and up to one's own interpretation there might've been hints regarding romantic relationships and feelings throughout Levi's character (never directly though, might be important to mention here). In my opinion this whole concept of the happy end wife husband thing collides with the way Levi's character was portrayed and written.

In conclusion I think that Levi has been in the position of losing those close to him so often, his ending was perfect in the way that the cycle and perhaps almost his only-survivor curse was broken and in a concept full of chaos he could finally find the stability to hold on to. Finding peace in having lost so much and having fought so much that rather than having nothing left, he in fact has left the result that was only possible due to his losses - which fit his character perfectly.

[bornnraisedinsilenthill]

Hange why are you letting yourself burn? Just dip into the ocean next to you and then return to killing the rumbling titans.

HANGE THE WATER. HANGE NOOOOOO

[catismyspiritanimal]

Fr tho 😆 !!

[briebysabs]

Seeing some people interpret the ending as “everything was pointless what’s it all for” greatly ignored the message behind Armin and Zeke’s conversation.

And it’s a very important one. There is meaning to life even if the cycle never ends. Enjoy the moment, appreciate the world. Find the love. As Erwin said, we all die. But does that make our lives and lives of our comrades meaningless? No.

This world is cruel but very beautiful.

[jiaa88]

If tomorrow would ever, if tomorrow would come What I’d give just to grow some flowers with you If tomorrow would ever, if tomorrow would come What I’d give just to talk about love with you

[attack-on-titan-confessionss]

Tr: "The main flaw of the final arc was not due to any ship being canon or not. It was that the whole timeskip had barely half the amount of chapters from pre skip. Even ten more chapters could have helped clarify plot points or provide closure to character arcs."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*---***---***----

[lenok993]

~ackerletters~

I can't believe that Mikasa broke up with everyone. It doesn't fit with her character cause she is very family-oriented person and she can't be alone too long yes she needs to take a break for rest and grieving process but in my headcanon she writes the letters to Armin every season. The same thing with famous ackertalk, Levi and Mikasa can ackertalking by this way, the letters are perfect option to communicate with each other. For them two awkward introverts it's easier to express their thoughts and emotions in writing before they will meet again

Dear Captain Levi All things shall take place in their proper time. How is your leg? Hope you're doing well. P.S. I sent your favorite tea from Mitras. Sincirely yours, undisciplined subordinate Mikasa Ackerman

[harley-rose25]

more aot ending doesnt make sense thoughts

Wait... wait, ..so Eren knew that the Titan curse was going to be broken by the time he gets stopped during the rumbling, right? I'm pretty sure he said that. So, like, if that's the case, what was the point of going to Historia and, apparently, being like 'hey yo go get pregnant so the military wont feed Zeke to you and I can use him to rage stomp the world. k thanks'

He could've just had Historia turn into a titan shifter and then they could start the rumbling.

I mean I guess its so that their friends don't kill Historia to stop the rumbling but like Eren had full control of the founding titan he could have prevented that; actually they wouldn't even need to kill her they just need to separate her from Eren.

I guess Eren just wanted to manipulate her into having a baby for shits and giggles

To satisfy his growing breeding fetish?

So he could watch her fuck after he turns into a bird like in that one youtube video by i dont remember and im too lazy to look it up fuck you?

[kimbapkimbapp]

Currently crying over eremika and eremin

[aengelren]

Aot ending spoilers(additional scene)

it’s confirmed we got an added scene of them in high school au and confirmed characters are Ema, Levi, Marco

[hilitrivia]

to you, 2,000 years from now [eren jaeger, shingeki no kyojin]

[oorusandei]

LONGGG rant about attack on titan’s ending and how it correlates to the whole idea of “eren was never free” under the cut

i love aot’s ending.

first things first: aot was never meant to have a happy ending. the whole point is that eren always wanted something better, something greater than the situation he was stuck in. he reached for that, a world beyond what he could see, and he called it freedom. he thought that if he could have a world outside the walls, they would be free. they would be happy.

in the conversation armin and zeke had in the paths, zeke said that the purpose of life is to multiply. he, like eren, thought that you had to look for something greater to be happy, to be free.

eren wasn’t satisfied with just multiplying as a meaningless life form, of course. as a child inside the walls, living with a false sense of security and safety, he said that they were living like livestock. and reproducing without any purpose in life— that is a cow, a pig, those are animals who only live to eat, sleep and procreate. eren didn’t want that.

and see here; this is how zeke and eren share the same idea. the yeager brothers both believe that to be free, you have to go outside the walls and constantly strive for a higher ideal.

but think— even though eren got what he wanted, when he reached the sea, it was when everything went downhill. personally, i think he realized that he’d been leading himself on all this time. he couldn’t be free. not if he slaughtered everyone else, not if he killed everyone who wasn’t from paradis.

eren was always looking for more, looking for the freedom that would satisfy him once and for all. he wanted to have nothing in his way, and that in itself is impossible to achieve.

however (and this is the part i adore), armin is eren’s opposite.

yes, he also wanted to go to the sea, to witness mountains of fire and lands of ice as he said it, but he was content with staying inside the walls.

not because he was fine with being livestock.

armin saw purpose in everything. and he didn’t think of himself as livestock in the first place.

talking to zeke, he said that he would’ve been content just racing with mikasa and eren every day, on that hill, young forever and lost in the happiness of a simple activity that he knew he enjoyed.

he said that he thought that was the purpose of life; to be happy, to find happiness in what you have. and that was freedom for him; because he was free doing what he loved and found meaning in the tiniest things.

eren, in comparison, couldn’t do that.

here’s the thing. eren succeeded in killing 80% of the world’s population, but he was still unsatisfied. why? because he still. wasn’t. free. there were still wars left to be fought and enemies left. perhaps he made things harder for his friends, even.

as shown in the ending, war rages on, after his death and after mikasa’s death and armin’s death. there cannot be freedom if freedom, to eren, means a state of constant peace and happiness; happiness is never everlasting.

but armin was free because despite everything, he believed in happiness and freedom and loving everything he did, even in the seemingly meaningless playthings.

armin taught zeke that just playing catch-ball with a mentor can be your purpose in life. it can be your way to freedom and feeling satisfied. eren didn’t understand that.

now the ultimate question: does this mean eren was wrong for seeing freedom as a life beyond the constraints that held him inside the walls, for never liking what he had in front of him?

no. he was a boy full of too much hope for the world. yet it is because of this hope that he fails to ever be free, unlike armin. he could never achieve freedom because nothing was enough for him.

eren was never free and he never believed in freedom in the first place. armin was always free.

thank you for coming to my TedTalk.